'We didn't rule him out': Rabbitohs clarify 'strange' 18th man situation after injured Campbell Graham named in squad

Phil Gould has raised question marks over Matt Burton's selection as 18th man for the NSW Blues after Campbell Graham was ruled out due to injury, only to be named by the Rabbitohs on an extended bench to face the Bulldogs the following day.

Burton was called into camp for game two and due to the potential for the 18th man to take the field, will be unavailable for Canterbury's round 15 clash against South Sydney on Sunday afternoon, meaning the Dogs have lost one of their best players.

Graham was ruled out of the Rabbitohs' round 14 clash with the Raiders due to back spasms and was subsequently ruled out by NSWRL officials, after he had fulfilled the 18th man role in game one at Suncorp Stadium, where he did not take the field.

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"Three new faces have been added to the extended bench in the 20-man squad for game two with Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton replacing the injured Campbell Graham," a statement from NSWRL said on Monday night.

However, when the NRL team lists were announced on Tuesday afternoon, the gun centre was named among the reserves for Souths in the No.19 jumper, meaning he could technically still play a part in Sunday afternoon's showdown against the Bulldogs.

Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus, club boss Gould addressed the "frustrating" impact of missing Burton once again, before a tongue-in-cheek question mark over the fitness of Graham.

"He [Burton] has got a lot of No.18 jerseys hanging in his wardrobe and none of them with any stains on them," Gould said.

"He's a professional No.18 - he does it for Australia, he does it for NSW.

"It's good because we like to have our players in that environment, but it's frustrating that he goes there and doesn't get a game and the club misses out on him.

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"Strangely enough, South Sydney have named Campbell Graham on an extended bench for this game. We got word on the weekend that Campbell Graham was out of the South Sydney game against the Raiders last week and was unavailable for Origin.

"Yet here he is, poking up on the extended bench for the game this weekend - knowing full well that if he didn't go as 18th man in Origin, it would probably be Matt Burton that was gonna take his place. It's a nice swifty, isn't it?

"Anyway, it remains to be seen if he plays." 

While the comments from Gould were seemingly made in jest, they do raise the question how Graham could be in contention to play club football but was ruled out of Origin.

Wide World of Sports contacted the Rabbitohs, who explained the decision for Graham to miss out on the NSW squad due to back spasms wasn't made by the club.

"We took him to Canberra to see if it would settle down, but it wouldn't settle down and he got ruled out of the game," a club spokesperson said.

"NSW contacted us to ask why he didn't play and we said back spasms, so they ruled him out - we certainly didn't rule him out.

"He hasn't trained with us yet, but he is a chance of playing on Sunday if the back spasms calm down and that's why he was named in 19." 

Graham faced a similar situation in 2023, when he was called into Blues camp for the start of their preparations, only to be ruled out by the state team's medical staff due to a sternum injury that prevented him from completing training.

There is also no guarantee the Blues would have picked Graham for the all-important 18th man spot, but the fact they contacted South Sydney indicates he would have likely been somewhere in the squad for the game at Perth's Optus Stadium.

The 26-year-old was close to starting at centre for the Blues in the series opener due to Stephen Crichton's injury, but the Bulldogs skipper was eventually cleared to play and Graham instead sat on the bench awaiting a call that only ever comes in extenuating circumstances, such as two or more failed HIAs or injuries caused by foul play.

Burton has fulfilled the 18th man duties on numerous occasions at representative level and unlike other players in the wider squad - for example, Keaon Koloamatangi - he is not allowed to play for his NRL team prior to the Origin fixture.

It's not the first time in 2025 that the ladder-leading Dogs have been the victim of the 18th man rule, with coach Cameron Ciraldo voicing his displeasure with the current system when Kurt Mann was unavailable to play club football after being selected as the official back-up player for the Maroons in game one.

Gould questioned why players from teams who have a scheduled bye couldn't be utilised as 18th man, instead of impacting the week-to-week competition.

"I think they should move the 18th man around to help the clubs," he said.

"Sometimes I can't see why they can't take it from a team that's got the bye.

"There are plenty of teams having a bye this weekend that could provide support.

"By the same token, we never begrudge Matt the opportunity to go into Origin camp.

"Even if he doesn't get to play, being around those players is good for him."